The Beer Nut: Brewers rub elbows at Boston conference

Last week's Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, held at the Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center in Boston, is the largest craft beer industry event in the country.

Norman Miller

Boston was the place to be last week if you are a craft beer fan.

Nearly every beer bar worth its salt in the greater Boston area had special events every night brewers from around the country and abroad visiting with beers you can never buy in Massachusetts.

The brewers nearly 2,000 brewery employees from around the world were in town for the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, held at the Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center the largest craft beer industry event in the country.

It was a week packed with professional events throughout the four days there were dozens of seminars, ranging in subjects such as "Things Every Brewer or Future Brewery Owner Should Know But Doesn't" to "Microbiological Quality Control and Bioluminescence."

Along with 2,000 attendees, there were more than 180 different exhibitors and 180 beer journalists from around the world.

The event was a mix of professional events and parties. It's a craft beer event, so there was a lot of beer available.

I think some of the local brewers took it as a challenge to impress their out-of-state peers. On Tuesday, several brewery tours throughout New England were arranged by the Brewers Association, which set up the conference.

On the Boston-area tour - which included stops at the Boston Beer Works near the Boston Garden, Watch City Brewery in Waltham, Rock Bottom in Boston, Cambridge Brewing Company and Boston Beer Company - several of the brewers seemed to have special beers available.

Rock Bottom, a brewpub I'm not a fan of, brewed both an imperial stout and a barley wine which were several notches above their usual lineup of beers.

At the Cambridge Brewing Company, brewer Will Meyers let people try Audacity of Hops during the tour. The beer, brewed with Mayflower Brewing Company, was the official beer of the conference and every attendee got a bottle.

The Boston Beer Company poured Utopias for the more than 50 people on the tour, a beer costing $160 a bottle when it is sold every two years.

The Harpoon Brewery hosted two events the welcoming reception and a night of cask ale where much beer was consumed.

At the conference itself, Brewers Association President Charlie Papazian said during his welcoming address that people always ask him what the next big trend in beer is. He said he never has an answer.

"The idea there is one beer style, one trend, one beer and food pairing, one great beer ... people want to put beer in a box," he said. "They want to know the perfect script. Unfortunately -- fortunately -- for craft brewers our business is unscripted."

The craft beer industry is strong, Brewers Association Director Paul Gatza said during his state of the industry address.

Craft brewing grew 6 percent in 2008. During 2008, 65 new brewpubs opened nationally, compared to 45 that closed the third straight year more opened than closed, according to Gatza.

Also in 2008, 56 new breweries opened and 10 breweries closed, according to Gatza. Nine breweries that were classified as microbreweries (those that make fewer than than 15,000 barrels of beer a year) were reclassified as regional breweries (making more than 15,000 barrels of beer per year).

Not all the news was positive.

"Forty of the top 50 craft brewery businesses grew last year," he said. "That's a nice number, but that is down from 47 the year before."

Before keynote speaker Greg Koch of the Stone Brewery Company in California spoke, he played a short video, "I'm a Craft Brewer." It featured 35 brewers from around the country talking about craft brewing, which ended with them leading those in attendance in a toast of beers brewed collaboratively by more than one brewery.

It's that type of collaboration craft brewers need to use to compete against the giant beer companies, Koch said during his speech, titled "Be Remarkable."

"The craft brewers segment, I believe, will surge forward in the next three to four years if we don't screw it up," he said.

He said craft brewers should work together to beat the big guys, and not fight against each other for shelf space.

He said big brewers have all the money and advertising, but craft brewers have something more important: "We get to make really great beer," he said. "They have to make fizzy yellow beers. We get to be creative. They have to be creative with their commercials. We can double our capacity by growing organically. They have to buy up their competitors."

Eventually, he said, those seeking more in life will find craft beer.

"I believe there are a lot of people wanting to see the light," said Koch. "Let them see our remarkable side."

As for the exhibitors, anything to do with the beer industry was available for sale bottling and canning lines, kegs, glassware, labeled glassware, signs, banners, chemicals to clean equipment, raw materials such as hops and malt, bottle caps and keg handles. Everywhere you turned there were exhibitors.

Some of the brewers came to town for different reasons.

Vince Marsaglia, co-founder of the Port Brewing Company in San Marcos, Calif., said he came to check out the trends in the craft brewing industry. Frank Werner from Nogne O in Sweden came to meet other brewers and to get feedback on his beer.

Patrick Conway, owner of Great Lakes Brewing Company of Ohio, said it was a scouting trip for him.

"That's why I'm here I'm kind of kicking the tires to see how receptive people would be to our beers."

On a personal note, my highlight was getting to meet some of the brewers of my favorite beers: Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewing Company, Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey in California, Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing in Maine and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing in California were just some of the people I met.

I think Papazian summed up the week best for craft beer fans: "God bless the mothers of all brewers."